Harazin scores 16 to lead Bulldogs past Raiders

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

There were some who no doubt gave the Colfax girls a cursory glance, considered their record and their roster and then dismissed them as contenders for the Class 1A state championship.

After all, the Bulldogs came to the SunDome with five freshmen and nine losses.

Yet when the semifinals are held Friday, showcasing the tournament's Final Four, Colfax will once again be front and center. The Bulldogs' 58-46 conquest of Lake Roosevelt in a Thursday night quarterfinal punched that ticket in impressive fashion.

The other semi will pit Freeman against Liberty Bell, with the 22-2 Scotties having downed White Pass 78-67 behind Jessie DePell's 40 points, and Liberty Bell having beaten Burbank.

Freeman was deadlocked 62-62 with White Pass before the Scotties staged a 10-0 burst that left them with a 72-62 lead with 1:24 to play.

DePell, a 5-foot-11 junior, hit 15 of 25 shots, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and added 11 rebounds and seven steals.

Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher, while relieved to have survived a first-round game with White Swan, was amped about his team's play Thursday night.

"Boy, we came to play tonight, didn't we?" he said, asking an obvious question. "This was the same group of kids you saw in the SunDome Shootout earlier this season."

Well, yes and no.

The 17-9 Bulldogs who will at 4 p.m. today will oppose 24-1 Napavine, one of the pre-tournament favorites, have matured substantially since the aforementioned Yakima appearance, one in which they lost 62-49 to East Valley before beating Naches Valley 59-30.

The nine freshmen and sophomores who clog Colfax's roster — the Bulldogs have no seniors — have a season of experience now.

They also have a point guard named Jordan, as in Jordan Harazin, a 5-foot-6 frosh who led all scorers with 16 points and ran the show like a senior throughout against a Lake Roosevelt team that had won 12 of its previous 13 games.

"Jordan Harazin's a keeper," Baerlocher said. "She was frustrated last night because she only played five minutes (against White Swan, due to foul trouble). I said, 'Hey, you got some rest. You'll be fresher for tomorrow.'"

Though confident they could compete here despite their youth and record, the Bulldogs make no mention of last season's championship because few of them were involved.

This is their team and their season, Baerlocher said, regardless the results. And it's looking more and more like the same competitive mentality which five Colfax players used to help the school to a state volleyball championship last fall is prevalent.

"Colfax just somehow finds champions," Baerlocher said. "The freshmen and sophomores we have aren't playing like freshmen and sophomores anymore. It's one thing to be on the bench as a freshman, for example, but it's another to be out there getting minutes."

And making key contributions in big games.

Megan Teade, another freshman, scored 15 points, dealt three assists and came up with five steals while Angie Dennison, a junior, added 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

But keeping the lid on things was Harazin, who calmly controlled the ball and her team in the face of increasing defensive pressure from the Raiders.

"They came at us with a lot of pressure just like White Swan did yesterday," Baerlocher said. "But White Swan got us running downhill and out of control, especially in the second half. That didn't happen tonight."

The 16 girls teams list no fewer than 39 freshmen — boys rosters have seven — and Colfax's five ninth graders combined for 36 of their team's 58 points.

Baerlocher also said junior guard Katie Burns, an 8.2 point-per-game scorer who suffered a knee injury on Feb. 3 and aggravated it last Friday, might be available for Friday's game.

"We would have used her tonight if we'd needed to," Baerlocher said.